


stranded

by elysian_qc



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Major Character Injury, Plane Crash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-12 04:31:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10482132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elysian_qc/pseuds/elysian_qc
Summary: He gazes around and everything comes back to him.  The case, the plane crash... His stomach drops and lungs constrict.  Broken plane pieces are scattered throughout.  Smoke plumes from some parts, and items are strewn about haphazardly.  Everything is in ruins and Ralph thinks the damaged pieces resemble his current level of optimism.//My take on the finale





	1. twisted metal, twisted hope

**Author's Note:**

> My take on the finale, just something I've been tossing around in my head for a couple days now.

The sky is blurry, all the blues bleeding into the whites of the thin clouds artfully.  He hears a piercing ring and it takes a spilt second for him to realize that it's his own ears.

His body aches; he plucks through the choppy memory flashes to try to figure out why, and the gapes in his mind scare him more than the tightness in his chest.  He tries to get up, but pain flares in his ribs, eliciting a short whimper and causing him to collapse back to the ground.  He needs to figure out where he is, what the heck happened, and why his ribs feel like they're about to break apart in his chest.

The ground beneath him is uneven and rough, almost scratchy.  He hasn't gone to the beach too many times, but through his delirium, he can make an educated guess it's sand.  He tries to take in his surroundings, but his vision swims, obscuring everything around him.  He has to blink multiple times, just to be able to see clearly again, and it does nothing but heighten the pounding in his skull. 

He attempts to sit up again, and succeeds, despite his chest constricting painfully. He cups his forehead, another wave of dizziness washing over him.  He pulls his hand away, and nearly gags at the crimson streaked across his scarily pale hand.  A head injury would explain the memory lapses and dizziness, but what can explain the head injury?

Lessons from Toby flash through his mind, and he starts to check his limbs.  He moves them, albeit slowly, but everything seems to be in working order. 

He gazes around and everything comes back to him.  The case, the plane crash... His stomach drops and lungs constrict.  Broken plane pieces are scattered throughout.  Smoke plumes from some parts, and items are strewn about haphazardly.  Everything is in ruins and Ralph thinks the damaged pieces resemble his current level of optimism. 

Their is a shore only yards away, the waves tiny, calm, and the water a crystalline blue.  Meters behind him, he estimates, is a forest, dense foliage and skyscraping trees.  The calm nature seems too unbalanced, compared to the disasters happening around him. 

He _has_ to get up, he _has_ to find his mom, the others.  He's panicking now, and he knows it, but he needs to find the team.  It's agony, getting to his feet.  He's hyperventilating by now, and his ribs rattle from shaky breaths.  He's scared.  He's so scared.  Cause he hears nothing but dead silence.  Silence means unconscious, and unconscious could mean... No, he can't think like that.  He shudders, and tears line his eyes.  They have to be alive.  Their his family. 

''Mom!'' The scream rips from his throat, he's so desperate and afraid that it hurts.  His pulse is too fast, his whole body trembles and he can't tell if its from exhaustion or fear. 

''Walter!'' He yells, and he's stumbling along the island, almost tripping over a piece of dented plane wing.  ''Mom!'' His voice cracks dangerously.  He wants to cry when the only answer he receives is the call of a passing seagull. 

Tears sting a cut on his cheek, but he barely registers the burning sensation.  ''Happy! Toby!''

There's no answer, again, and he releases a strangled sob.  ''Sylvester!''

There's nothing.  No answer. No noise except for the crashing waves and seagulls.  He feels like he's gonna collapse again.  There's a physical pain in his chest and he can't decide if it's his ribs or his heart snapping in two. 

He stumbles through the wreckage hastily, his blue orbs swing back and forth, combing through plane remains with a desperateness.  But he can't find them, they're no where to be found.  He falls against a twisted piece of metal, ash covered and dented as if Happy had gone after it with her hammer.  He's shaking, his stomach is doing cartwheels, and he's become dizzy again. 

Then he hears a rustle from somewhere behind him and he jumps. His heart takes lodging in his throat, all air leaves his lungs with a gasp.  ''Hello?!''  He turns and studies the area. ''Who's there?''

He nearly cries for the spilt second of silence, but a strangled sob of relief rips from his lips when his ears capture the sound of a groan.  It's an agonizing groan, the type of groan from someone but in pain, but it's a sign of life. 

Ralph runs.  He sprints, spewing sand in the air from the force of his steps.  Then he sees her, sprawled out on her side along the golden sand, barely conscious.  ''Happy!''

He drops to his knees by her side, and ignores the grains of sand digging into his knees.  ''Happy,'' he murmurs, and gently places a hand on her shoulder.  ''Happy, wake up.  Please.'' He barely manages to squeak out the words. 

The weight of fear and panic weighing on his small shoulders feels lifted when her eyelids flutter, followed by another groan.  He takes stock of her visible injuries.  A gash on her forehead leaks blood down the side of her face, and he can see a multitude of bruises already beginning to form.  He gulps, and continues to carefully shake her shoulder.  ''Happy, open your eyes.''

The mechanic blinks, and Ralph panics at her dazed look.  ''Ralph,'' her voice is hoarse.  She pauses, and looks around.  He can see the familiar shock and fear filtering across her face.  ''What happened?''

Ralph swallows and answers with frustration.  ''T-The plane crashed.  I don't- can't recall much else.'' 

''The others?'' Happy asks and Ralph can only shake his head.  ''I can't them find them, Happy.''

Happy bits her lower lip before clearing her throat.  ''Help me up.'' She instructs. 

He reaches for her outstretched hands to pull her up, and it's fine until Happy hisses out a sharp ''Shit!'' and releases his hand abruptly. 

She's fallen back to the ground, curling into more of a fetal position, cradling her abdomen with a grimace.  He doesn't think he has ever seen her look so tiny and vulnerable. 

His eyes go wide and his blood runs cold.  ''Happy,'' he says her name and moves his hand to her arm.  ''Happy, let me look.''

Her eyes are squeezed shut, and he can see sweat breaking out on her forehead.  She doesn't say anything, but she does slightly remove her hands from her abdomen. 

Ralph lets out a shaky breath.  He tries to remember everything that Toby has ever taught him.  ''Happy, can you move onto your back?''

Happy bits her lip again, but shifts onto her back with a hiss of pain.  He inhales sharply, keeping a secure hand on her arm as Happy grips the hem of her dark shirt and pulls it upwards. 

Ralph nearly gags.  The metallic scent of blood is strangely strong, and nauseating.  Lower on her abdomen is a deep gash, probably six inches, if he had to guess.  The crimson liquid seeps from the wound, soaking Happy's dark shirt, and streaking her skin red. 

''Oh,'' Happy whispers.  ''Would you look at that.'' Her voice wavers, and she sounds almost fearful. 

''W-We have to put pressure on it, right?'' Ralph questions, and his mind is short circuiting cause Happy is sitting here with a large wound that he really doesn't know how to deal with. 

Her breathing's become labored, or maybe it was like that the whole time.  ''I'll be fine,'' she insists meekly.  ''Go find the others.''

He exhales.  He doesn't want to leave her like this, curled on the ground in agony.  He guesses he is see through cause Happy looks at him and says, ''Go.''

He stands again, and runs throughout the ruins.  He's only been circling through the plane parts maybe three minutes when he hears his name. 

''Ralph!''

He startles, turning immediately to the side and sees him.  It's Walter, starting to sprint his way to him.  ''Walter!'' He looks relatively unharmed, except for scrapes to the face and a limp that's barely slowing him down.   

Ralph can't help but throw his arms around the older genius and squeeze.  He's alive, and so is Happy, but they still need to find his Mom, Toby and Sly. 

He can feel Walter freeze for approximately four seconds before hugging back.  ''Are you okay?'' Walter pulls away and gives him a once over.  Ralph just nods.  ''I'm fine, I think.  My chest hurts.'' Ralph breathes unsteadily.  ''Have you found anyone else?''

Walter looks crestfallen.  ''No.''

''Happy's over there,'' Ralph points behind him.  ''She's hurt.''

Walter opens his mouth to speak but a shout coming from the shore cuts him off.  ''Walter? Ralph?! Please tell me that's you guys!''

He turns and sees Toby stalking up towards them, and Ralph doesn't think he has ever been more relieved.  ''Toby, Happy's hurt.''

His demeanor changes as quickly as the light does when he flicks the switch.  His lips parts, eyes widen, and tenses.  ''Where the hell is she?'' he yells, and Ralph can see the pure, heart stopping fear etched into his features. He's never seen Toby look that scared, not even when Collins had taken him captive nearly a year ago.

''She's over there.'' Ralph points to where he had left her.  ''She made me go, to find the others.  I didn't want to leave her alone.'' But Toby's already running in the direction of his wife. 

Ralph is still glancing over his shoulder when Walter catches his attention.  ''Toby has her, she'll be fine.  We have to find Sylvester and Paige.'' Walter places a hand on his shoulder in an effort of comfort.  ''Everyone will be fine, Ralph.'' He offers an unsure grin.  ''I only state facts, remember?''

Ralph follows Walter, and they comb through the wreckage, searching for his Mom and Sly, and any other valuable items, especially a first aid kit of some kind. 

''Ralph,'' Walter breaks the uneasy silence, his eyes uncharacteristically wide.  ''Ralph, look.''

He turns from where he attempted to crawl into a part of plane, and follows the direction of Walter's gaze, and he can't help but grin. There's his Mom, and Sylvester, making their way up the shoreline.

''Mom!'' He yells, and suddenly he's running.  ''Mom!'' He calls her again and this time she looks up and he can see her sob through a relieved smile. 

And then he is collected into her embrace, and everything feels right again. 

He can feel her tears fall onto his neck, and her arms squeeze him tighter.  ''Oh, thank god.'' she whispers into his hair, and presses a kiss to his forehead.  ''Thank God you're okay.''

She doesn't let go, and he doesn't either.  For the first time since he woke up in this wretched place, he felt safe. 

''Paige, Sly,'' Walter has caught up with them, sounding quite out of breath.  ''Are you guys okay?''

Sylvester nods.  ''Considering the circumstances, of course.'' His glasses are crooked on his nose, and his hair has been ruffled from the wind.  Same as Walter, both him and his Mom have scrapes what seem to be otherwise minor injuries.

Paige finally releases him, and he smiles at her.  ''I'm fine, Mom.''

She looks to Walter.  ''What about Happy and Toby?  Where are they?''

''They're over back that way.'' Ralph explains, but he gulps.  ''But, Happy's hurt. Bad.''

Paige releases an unwilling whimper, covering her mouth instinctively.  Sylvester winces, and his frown deepens.  ''Oh no.''

''Guys!'' Toby's frantic shout catches their attention with ease.  ''We _have_ to find a first aid kit.  _Now_!''

* * *

Cabe glances at his watch again, and sighs.  He was late.  He was called away to minor Homeland problem just as the Team had received a case.  It was arranged that he would arrive later, on a different plane, and now he was going to be late for that one too.

Great.

Putting the van into park, Cabe exited and quickly made his way into the Homeland building.  Turning the corner, his phone chimed in his pocket, and he wasted no time retrieving it.  It was a message from Cooper. 

_Come to my office immediately.  Something has happened.  Urgent._

Cabe would be lying if he said his heart didn't beat a little bit faster from the text.  He changed his route, rounding to take the stairs toward Cooper's office. 

He didn't bother knocking, instead walking in with haste.  He froze, seeing Cooper was accompanied by Molina.  Both turned to him, holding their usual air of regality and authority. 

But the looks on their faces made his heart freeze in his chest.  ''What's going on?''

Both ladies turned to each other, having a silent conversation.  His blood boiled.  They were hiding something.  ''Tell me what's going on.'' He demanded, tensing. 

Cooper swallowed.  ''We've lost contact with the plane Scorpion is on.  We can't locate it.''


	2. bloody hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Painful decisions and discoveries for all.

''What do you mean they've disappeared?!'' Cabe blows up.  ''Planes don't just disappear, Katharine!''

''Agent Gallo, I need you to calm down.'' Molina speaks up, her voice sturdy, calm, eyes hard. 

Cabe only bristles.  ''I'll be calm once I know where my team is.''

Cooper sighs.  ''Fifteen minutes ago, we lost contact with the plane.  After that, it disappeared completely off our radar.''

''We have to find that plane.'' His voice is rough, and his hands clench at his sides. 

''We have our techs running different tests, they're doing their absolute best to hunt down this plane.'' Molina says, crossing her arms. She eyes his ready fists.  ''I suggest you wait in here and cool off, Gallo.'' Her tone is absolute and Cabe knows she won't take 'no' for an answer.

Molina stalks out of the room without another word edgewise.  Cooper shifts on her feet, and nears him.  She bits the inside of her cheek before finding the words. ''I'm sure they're fine, Cabe.  It's most likely just a malfunction with the radio.''

Cabe can only grunt in acknowledgement.  Her words do nothing to placate his nerves.  ''Nothing with Team Scorpion is ever a 'malfunction'.''

* * *

 

All Toby can hear is the blood pumping in his ears harshly, and his own heavy breathing.  He's running, and running and running.  Ralph's words are a mantra in his head, and all he can think about is getting to his wife. 

''Happy?!'' Toby shouts.  He can't find her, and his eyes begin to blur with salty tears.  Then there's a noise, something between a groan and a whimper and he chases the sound till he sees her and his stomach falls to his knees. 

Ralph was right.  She didn't look good, and he wasted no time in getting to her side. 

He brushed damp hair away from her forehead, letting his hand linger.  ''Happy,'' he starts.  ''Happy, hey, it's me.'' Toby has to hold her head up with his free hand.  His heart clenches when her eyelids flutter open, revealing to him the dark orbs he's come to adore. 

She leans into his hand, hissing in pain when her body shifts.  ''Toby...'' She grunts and grapples for his wrist, something to ground her, her other arm wrapping around herself, gingerly.  Toby reaches for it, ''I have to look it at, Happy.''  She nods, and shuts her eyes, and Toby prays to any deity out there listening to keep her alive. 

He moved back her blood-soaked shirt to reveal her gaping wound, and he curses silently.  It's deep, dangerously deep, and the bleeding doesn't seem to be slowing down. 

''What's the diagnosis, Doc?'' Happy jokes weakly, and Toby doesn't find it very funny.  He looks to her with sorry eyes and a deep frown.  ''It's not good, Hap.'' He rubs his thumb over her forehead, right next to the scrape there.  Toby has to settle her back to the ground so he can better examine the gash.

He quickly rips off his jacket and balls it up, hastily pressing it against the wound and he wants to cry when she writhes beneath his hands, and lets out a painful whimper.  She pushes at his hands instinctively, and it takes everything in him not to let up on the pressure.  ''I know it hurts, sweetheart, but I need to stop the blood flow.''  Happy just bits her lip and squeezes her eyes shut, and it _physically hurts him_ knowing he is only adding onto her agony. 

He resorts to pressing his lips to her sweaty forehead and whispering nonsense words of comfort into her hair.  This wasn't good.  The wound was way too deep to leave be, and the chance of infection was too great here.  There was a great probability of him having to operate on her out here. God knows how long they'll be stuck on this island, and she might not make it another day like this. 

''Guys!'' He straightened slightly to spot the others.  His voice echoed, drowning out the seagulls calls.  ''We _have_ to find a first aid kit. _Now_!''

He turns his attention back to Happy, and can hear behind him the others moving about, hopefully looking for the much needed kit.  He presses his lips to her forehead again.  ''You're gonna be okay, I swear.''  _She has to be._

''What are you going to do?'' Happy whispers, her words scarily shaky.  Toby raises an eyebrow, and Happy chuckles softly, followed by a wince.  ''You got your doctor face on.''

Toby swipes his thumb across her skin soothingly, and sighs.  ''Don't worry about that-'' He starts, but Happy is quick to cut him off.  ''Doc, if you truly love me, tell me what you're going to do.'' Despite the constant waver, her tone is stern, and Toby can't help but smile slightly.  ''That's a low blow, using my adoration of you against me.''

''It was bound to come in handy sooner or later.'' Her words were clipped, playful despite the distress. Her eyes suddenly hardened, and she moved to grip his wrist again.  ''What do you plan on doing?''

Toby inhales sharply, and begins to speak but is fortunately saved by the Paige. 

''Oh my god,'' Paige gasps. She looks about ready to cry, and Sylvester looks about ready to retch. 

''Guys!'' Toby shouts, breaking them from the silence.  ''I need a first aid kit!''

''Um,'' Paige stutters, blinking away tears.  ''Walter and Ralph are still looking, but Sly and I found some other things.'' She falls to her knees, dropping the contents of her arms, Sylvester following suit.  There's a blanket, some towels, and bottles of water.  

''Okay,'' Toby grabs a smaller towel and one of the water bottles.  ''I need to wash the wound out.'' He explains, popping open the bottle and pouring some onto the cloth; they'll need to conserve their water supply.  ''Paige.'' Toby catches her attention, and subtly nods towards Happy.  The liaison takes the hint, moving toward Happy to keep her steady. 

Toby locks gazes with Happy, silently asking for permission, and Happy only nods.  Quickly and carefully, he drags the wet towel against the wound, washing away the blood and other grime.  Happy's writhing again, and grabs for something, _anything_ , to hold onto, and then finds herself squeezing the life out of Paige's hand. 

''We found it!'' Suddenly Ralph and Walter are sprinting toward them, Walter holding a slightly dented white box and Toby breathes out in relief. 

''I'm gonna lift her up, one of you spread out the blanket and a towel.'' Toby instructs, and continues to carefully slide his arms under Happy's knees and back, and lifting her into his embrace as gently as he can.  Happy's head falls into the crook of his elbow, and her trembling hands grip onto his shirt tight enough to leave wrinkles behind.

Sylvester and Ralph hurry to spread out the aforementioned items along the sand as Walter and Paige go through the first aid kit.  

Toby can't help but press another kiss to Happy's pale forehead as he set her down gingerly.  He turned to face Walter, and says, ''I need a suture kit.'' he orders, and it only frustrates him when Walter freezes.  ''Are planning on doing what I think you're doing?''

Toby releases a heavy breath.  ''I'm gonna have to stitch her up here, now.''

* * *

Cabe wearily runs a hand through his hair.  They were still waiting on the results from the Homeland issued tech geeks, and Cabe was having trouble dealing with the time difference.  He had become accustomed to almost instantaneous responses from his geniuses, causing this wait to irritate his already frazzled nerves. 

He nearly jumped a foot in the air when the silence was abruptly shattered by the shrill chime of his phone.  He almost knocked over his coffee in the haste reaching for it. 

Reading his latest message, he froze.  _No, this couldn't be happening.  This monster's in prison!_ His hands shook, and the phone wobbled in his grip as he read the message again and again, his mind unable to process the digitalized words on the screen. 

''Cabe?'' He didn't even realize that Cooper had entered the room till she voiced her presence.  ''Cabe, what is it?'' Her eyes narrowed, and head cocked to the side, eyes clouding with worry. 

''He's back, Katharine.'' His voice tremored.  ''He's back and he's going after them.'' Cabe has to pause, trying to reign in his breathing.  ''This wasn't an accident.''

''Who, Cabe,'' Cooper questions hurriedly, and now her breathing is off track too.  ''Who is back?''

Cabe hands her the phone, and her face goes pallid.  ''Nikolai.''


End file.
